1953 Bridge PU?

[nick.s]

Hi and good morning!

would anybody of you knowledgeable folks be able to tell me whether this a real 1953 Pickup? I inherited the PU from a telecaster lover who recently passed away... thanks Nick

CIMG1286.jpg

CIMG1283.jpg

[Groovey Records]

email the photos to don mare or preeb see what they think.

Don can test it for you

Having the year on it seems bogus but I don't know

[Don Mare]

i'm not the right guy here - i can't be 100% - the 1953 stamp looks suspicious
why would anyone stamp a plate 1953 ? - it devalues the unit - and raises eyebrows

[tonewoods]

Originally Posted by Don Mare

i'm not the right guy here - i can't be 100% - the 1953 stamp looks suspicious
why would anyone stamp a plate 1953 ? - it devalues the unit - and raises eyebrows

So-ooo, without any added markings to draw your suspicion, is there any way for an expert to authenticate an early 50's pickup if you were able to personally inspect it?

Just really curious...

[Don Mare]

hi- the vintage guitar dealers are the right ones to look up- Gruhn?guitars gruhn@gruhn.com

after closer inspection the pickups donuts around the magnets - and adjustment holes all look good -- so does the cloth wire-
it does show the right features to be real, but
the base plate stamp - i dont get it - cause, imho: its trying to hard to be a "1953"

I have seen replicas that also nail the features too.. so I decline to be a vintage authenticator, sorry

[T2tele]

What looks suspicious to me is… comparing the oxidation/rust on the top of the magnets, doesn’t match the bottom of the pickup. The solder joints look too clean/new, the grounding plate looks like it’s been re-soldered, the wax buildup on the inner radius of the plate looks new/recent, the white wire should be yellow and the “1953” stamped grounding plate isn’t right?

I have re-wound and tested a number of ’51 through ’54 Tele bridge pickups; this looks to me like an attempt at a vintage look or a rewind… with the wrong wire reattached??

The only way to tell for sure is to test the magnets and wire/insulation in an SEM/EDX spectrometer; this would validate the age of the pickup.

T2

[nick.s]

Originally Posted by Don Mare

the 1953 stamp looks suspicious
why would anyone stamp a plate 1953 ? - it devalues the unit - and raises eyebrows

it is not about value... it would simply be nice to know where this PU comes from.

but you are probably all right... the black book has no such stamp on any of the pictures PU's... I should have checked before

thanks anyway...
that's what makes this place a great place!!